Claressa Shields: Savannah Marshall is broken already, losing to me is going to play a lot in her head and in her heart

Claressa Shields has made a living on making history.

After winning Olympic gold in 2012 and 2016, she would become the quickest man or woman in boxing history to win world championships in three different weight classes. She has ruled as undisputed queen in two of them and is one of the most decorated fighters in the game at just 27.

The only blemish on an otherwise perfect career dates back to a 2012 amateur contest; the source of an intense and perennially acrimonious rivalry with Savannah Marshall that has grown into one of the biggest in the sport. On Saturday, it culminates in their undisputed middleweight title showdown at the O2 Arena, almost five weeks later than billed after their original date was postponed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Shields, then 17-years old, lost that World Championship contest in China 10 years ago. ‘It means nothing now,’ the Michigan fighter calmly says, recalling the fight. What she has accomplished since then does, however.

‘I have earned all my stripes and truth be told, she hasn’t,’ Shields told Metro.co.uk. ‘Because she is from the UK and because she was Olympian that has put her on a high pedestal. But she is not there. I have earned it with 12 worlds titles, with two Olympic gold medals.

‘The reason why we are fighting in the headline fight at the O2 Arena is because of me. All my achievements. All my hard work. She thinks she has done something to deserve to be there. That can’t be something you did 10 years ago. Her beating me as an amateur does not matter. I have already proven that I am the better fighter multiple times.’

While her unprecedented success has her regarded as one of the best female fighters on the planet – perhaps only seconded by lightweight queen